Following the recent EGM, the new Supremi team of Rob Sapwell and Steve Preston would like to say a few words to introduce the new era.

The first job for the new Supremi undoubtedly has to be to say a massive thank you to the last Supremo. On behalf of the whole team, we'd like to say thanks to Groomo for the commitment he has shown while managing the side. We doubt many of the team fully appreciated the time that he put into the football club, and a reflection of that is the fact that his responsibilities will now be taken over by no fewer than six people. This should allow Groomo to spend more time concentrating on his hobbies, namely smoking and drinking.

For next season we aim to create a positive squad atmosphere, while at the same time developing a settled squad e.g. 18 regulars. Through no fault of Groomo's, last season we used a massive total of 34, yes 34, players! This means we were putting together a different XI from match to match, and this is a problem we need to eradicate. Obviously we would both be ignorant to think that football on a Sunday is going to be the number one priority for everyone, week in week out. But getting a regular turn-out from a core set of players would undoubtedly help us become more consistent each time we play. As such, there are responsibilities on you, the players to show this commitment to help realise this goal.

What we are ultimately looking for are players who:

1. Give 100% in the matches they play in; and:
2. Turn up with a positive winning mentality, not just when playing, but at training as well.

The team will obviously be able to perform better if we train, and as a result we'd like to introduce some Sunday morning training sessions. We'll aim to hold these during the build up to the new season, and on Sundays when a match is either un-scheduled or cancelled. We are currently looking into setting up these sessions at about 11am at , which is in close proximity to Putney Bridge tube station and Putney train station. We'd like to take a back-to-basics approach to these training sessions, concentrating on fitness, passing and shooting. It would be good to get everyone's opinions on the timing and location of these sessions, and we encourage you to e-mail us on the .

We'd also like to set up a number of friendlies before the new season. Potential opponents include Odeon Cinema, Accenture, Leatherhead and Victoria FC. This should help us to put the skills we've practised in training to the test, as well as enabling us to fine tune our tactics so that we can hit the ground running at the beginning of the season.

Last season we frustratingly lost a number of games to sides that were no better than us, player for player. The problem seemed to be that we were giving away the ball too easily and then didn't have the fitness to be constantly chasing the game to re-gain possession. Too often we hit a hopeful long ball forward to our front men only to find that the midfield were too disjointed from the attack to provide the support required. In the training sessions and friendlies, we'd like to focus on using the ball from the back, and moving forward as a team to build attacks.

At the EGM it was decided that the Supremi would take some time to decide on a captain. This was a tough decision to make, and a number of players were carefully considered for this esteemed position. Ross Melville will wear the captain’s arm band next season. Ross brings 100% commitment to every game and will no doubt make a great leader on the pitch.

The responsibilities of the captain will be as follows:

• motivating the team during games, and ensuring the team's chosen tactics and formation are being adopted;
• organising warm-ups and stretching before the game;
• assisting the Supremi with substitutions during the game;
• managing the team in the absence of both Supremi.

The Supremi will not be afraid to change things around and are already looking at changing the formations we have played in the past. We want to encourage a fresh approach to how we play and perform. How we pick the team will obviously initially come down to availability, but if we achieve the core squad of players we are aiming for, we will also look at individual performances.

We don't want what we are saying now to sound like a boot camp, but we do want the team to reach its undoubted potential. At the end of the day, we want to keep it fun. But let's face it, winning has always been more fun hasn't it? We have some very talented individuals in this squad, and all we need to do is to find a settled playing squad and get used to our strengths and weaknesses.

It will be a learning curve, but there is no reason why, with a new, positive, winning mentality, we can't be challenging at the top next season. As we said we have the talent to do it. It's all about bringing it together. We believe this will create a successful team, with an enjoyable team atmosphere that everyone will want to be a part of, and ultimately a team that people will want to be in and be proud to play for.

Looking forward to seeing most of you at the World Cup, and hopefully seeing the rest of you at some pre-season training sessions and socials.

Yours in sport
Sevvie & Mad Dog

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